Stonehenge

[torkell]

What have I been up to today? Well, see, there's this set of stones and earthworks up near Salisbury, that were erected over four thousand years ago...

Yes, today I spontaneously decided to go and see Stonehenge, which is one of the most significant historical artefacts in the entirety of the British Isles. Photos to follow once I get them off the camera.

An unexpected bonus of today's trip was finding a Rohan store in Salisbury, so I've also finally bought a new coat to replace the not-waterproof-anymore one from my time at university. The replacement is a Rohan Epic Pampas, partially because it's a pretty awesome coat (waterproof and windproof in anything short of a tropical storm) and partially because that's the only one they had in a small fitting.

Thinking about it, the trip itself wasn't entirely spontaneous. A few weeks back I'd plugged the route into Transport Direct and worked out that it was actually practical for me to visit via public transport, so all that was left was me getting the necessary motivation to do so (and waking up early enough at the weekend).

The thing that really inspired me to visit Stonehenge was a post a bit over a month ago from ksleet...

That whole thing in Jon's column today about "Gosh, I've lived in X for years, but I've never seen Y" is completely true. If you actually live near a tourist attraction, there's no rush to see it, right? Since you can go any time? Then you move to a new city, never having seen the attraction.

So, what major attractions have you lived near to for several years but never visited?

Comments

[omgimsuchadork.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but they're called tourist attractions for a reason, you know? I've been to the Statue of Liberty and some other things we've got here, but only on class trips in grade school; I've not gone in my adult life.

[torkell]

I find it varies depending on the place. Stonehenge did feel a bit touristy, but that was partially due to it being a rather manky overcast day and partially due to me not having enough time to explore the surrounding countryside. On the other hand, when I visited Battle Abbey a few years back it was a gloriously sunny day. I think Battle Abbey is in some ways more significant than Stonehenge as well. Stonehenge is a very important part of Tool Age history, but we don't know why it was built or what it was used for. On the other hand, we know a lot about Battle Abbey. It was ordered built by William the Conqueror after he invaded Britain back in 1066, and it ended up marking the last successful invasion of the British Isles.

I also like exploring castles and abbeys, so I'm biased towards Battle Abbey because of that :)